Really dumb newbie question . . . .

Depends on a variety of things.

Cleaner windshield will be more reflective. Cleaner dash might be more reflective. If it is darker outside, the windshield will be more reflective. If your eyes have adjusted more to the darkness the reflection will be more noticeable.

These are a few of the reasons you might not have noticed it before, but are noticing it now. It is common, and it is unlikely that you damaged anything. You can decrease the brightness of the speedometer with the dial on the dash to the left of the steering wheel. This ought to make it less noticeable. The dimmer only applies when your headlights are on, so the display will still be full brightness during the daytime when the reflection isn't visible.

 

My vote is that you dusted the dimmer switch into a different position.

 

I've only noticed the windshield reflection at night when I have the dash dimmer in the full 'on' daytime position. I like my dash dim at night anyway, especially if I'm on a country road (lots of those around here) without much ambient or traffic light, so use that dimmer almost every day, full on during the daylight hours, turned way down at night.

 

Unless you are driving with your headlights on during the day, there is no need to adjust the dimmer to "full on" during the day. The dimmer only affects the display while the headlights are on.

 

This is true and I was aware of it. I typically just leave my headlights on all the time, especially in the winter here in the dreary, dim and frozen North.

 

An alternative to dimming is to get a small piece of felt (or some such material) and decrease the size of the hole over the mirror. This would be on the edge closest to the driver. It won't block off any information, but it does block the glare.